Shared Burdens.....Made Light
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How the statue came to be.
Dixie and Lois were friends. They were on FCoB’s Music and Worship committee and they both were very creative. In fact Lois had a ceramic studio in her home for many years when she lived in Wichita. It was just prior to Easter time in 1982 and Lois and Dixie were on the Lenten committee. The idea was to have a tomb made out of paper macheé for the Lenten theme’s altar. They didn’t want it to be something small that just sat ON the altar; they wanted it big enough that it took OVER a large portion of the stage area. |
The Statue is listed on a registry through the Smithsonian Institue.
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This creative team made this tomb life sized. They expertly painted it to look like stone and added fresh flowers and it was very effective. Perhaps some of you remember that Easter? Many congregation members were asked to reenact the scriptures, including Donna Bozarth who was pregnant with Jan’et.
As the two worked on the tomb the idea to make a sculpture of Jesus was coming to them. How big should they make it, what should it be made of, where should it be placed - - these were among the questions they had. They were working with Babs Mellor, a world renown artist at WSU at that time. She suggested making a life size cement sculpture. Oh my, what a challenge!!
As the two worked on the tomb the idea to make a sculpture of Jesus was coming to them. How big should they make it, what should it be made of, where should it be placed - - these were among the questions they had. They were working with Babs Mellor, a world renown artist at WSU at that time. She suggested making a life size cement sculpture. Oh my, what a challenge!!
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They decided to make a small image out of cement to test the media and see if they would like working with it. Lois made a 10” little girl statue and Dixie made a 6” lamb. Yes, they decided they wanted to take on the challenge. They knew nothing about where to start, what it would actually look like, what other materials would they need, etc. They decided to start first with a sketch on paper. Dixie drew her vision and Lois drew hers. They decided on Dixie’s idea of Jesus carrying the cross.
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They took the idea to Bro Lyle Albright, our pastor then, and he loved it! Then it was presented to the church board and they gave their approval of the idea too. It was early June 1982 and the stature would be made in the court yard of the church.
They asked a lot of questions from Babs Mellor and she gave some advice, but said that this should be their creation, not hers. First, they needed a rebar frame for the initial form . Out of the blue a welder ‘appeared’ to help with that. The welder was only one of many mentors who came to the duo as they needed specialized help. They had many trials, errors and successes as they worked.
Dixie and Lois were novice in this area, but their determination lead them on. They worked that hot summer in 1982, mostly in the early morning hours , 4-5 hours, 5 days a week. Many, many mornings when they arrived the neighborhood children were waiting for them with questions and conversation about the statue as it advanced toward completion. “what are you doing?, how tall is he?, is Jesus married?” One morning when they arrived a little girl was waiting with flowers in her hands to put at Jesus’ feet (the flowers she picked from the front yard of the church building).
When mentors or materials were needed, God provided those to Dixie and Lois. The concrete was supplied by a local concrete company (Jim Franz’s, husband of Lois, concrete company) , sacks and plastic were made available , these were needed because they covered the statue up at the end of each day with plastic then burlap to help the concrete cure correctly. Disposable gloves and chicken wire were supplied and money was given for incidentals. DG Miller’s mother , Mary, gave a house coat to put on Jesus. DG’s dad, Arthur, gave his sandals. Check those out when you look at the statue the next time. Roscoe Switzer made the sign and Rev Lyle Albright named the statue “Shared burdens... made light.” The crown of thorns on the statue’s head came from roaming the river banks by North High School looking for thorn bushes. A particular area of attention was the statue’s face. It needed to be ‘just right’ says Dixie and they made a few trials before it got there. Dixie revealed that another reason for covering up their work each day was not only for the curing process of the concrete but to keep it a secret for the church congregation until the reveal time.
A wonderful highlight for Dixie and Lois came when the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC contacted them with the request to put it in their Arts of Kansas Building. See the computer link for this above.
Since the statue is listed as part of Beautifying Wichita through Sculpture book, people often stop and admire it in the church’s courtyard. People have gotten married by it and often people pray at it’s feet. Dixie and Lois had no idea that this would become such a symbol of love and spirituality to so many. They are humbled by this. The statue was dedicated with a joyous Sunday ceremony in the fall of 1982.
Thank you to Dixie Mosteller and Lois Frantz for their vision and dedication for bringing this gift to Wichita CoB.
They asked a lot of questions from Babs Mellor and she gave some advice, but said that this should be their creation, not hers. First, they needed a rebar frame for the initial form . Out of the blue a welder ‘appeared’ to help with that. The welder was only one of many mentors who came to the duo as they needed specialized help. They had many trials, errors and successes as they worked.
Dixie and Lois were novice in this area, but their determination lead them on. They worked that hot summer in 1982, mostly in the early morning hours , 4-5 hours, 5 days a week. Many, many mornings when they arrived the neighborhood children were waiting for them with questions and conversation about the statue as it advanced toward completion. “what are you doing?, how tall is he?, is Jesus married?” One morning when they arrived a little girl was waiting with flowers in her hands to put at Jesus’ feet (the flowers she picked from the front yard of the church building).
When mentors or materials were needed, God provided those to Dixie and Lois. The concrete was supplied by a local concrete company (Jim Franz’s, husband of Lois, concrete company) , sacks and plastic were made available , these were needed because they covered the statue up at the end of each day with plastic then burlap to help the concrete cure correctly. Disposable gloves and chicken wire were supplied and money was given for incidentals. DG Miller’s mother , Mary, gave a house coat to put on Jesus. DG’s dad, Arthur, gave his sandals. Check those out when you look at the statue the next time. Roscoe Switzer made the sign and Rev Lyle Albright named the statue “Shared burdens... made light.” The crown of thorns on the statue’s head came from roaming the river banks by North High School looking for thorn bushes. A particular area of attention was the statue’s face. It needed to be ‘just right’ says Dixie and they made a few trials before it got there. Dixie revealed that another reason for covering up their work each day was not only for the curing process of the concrete but to keep it a secret for the church congregation until the reveal time.
A wonderful highlight for Dixie and Lois came when the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC contacted them with the request to put it in their Arts of Kansas Building. See the computer link for this above.
Since the statue is listed as part of Beautifying Wichita through Sculpture book, people often stop and admire it in the church’s courtyard. People have gotten married by it and often people pray at it’s feet. Dixie and Lois had no idea that this would become such a symbol of love and spirituality to so many. They are humbled by this. The statue was dedicated with a joyous Sunday ceremony in the fall of 1982.
Thank you to Dixie Mosteller and Lois Frantz for their vision and dedication for bringing this gift to Wichita CoB.